headsock... for low ceilings!

[StickyDBRmf]

Quit raggin' on him guys! When you've been playing music, you're in another mental place, you don't remember that the only low ceiling you've ever encountered happens to be your practice room. The double sock, tho not elegant, sounds good. The pipe cover might not stay in place w/out securing but it might stay in place inside a sock. I use "pool noodles" for all kinds of bumper things in my studio (really cheap pipe covers) Are you worried your wife/gf/kids are gonna make fun of your bass? (mine just make fun of my playing). The little hat is the cutest thing, probably get a cheaper one at the pet store. Maybe even with your name on it...talk about ridicule 

[chris_b]

Sell this bass and buy a Travis Bean.

[Mykesbass]

On 25/12/2020 at 00:29, chris_b said:

Sell this bass and buy a Travis Bean.

Quickly followed by a new ceiling. Slight flaw in your plan Chris 😎

[carl0s]

Holy crap. It just happened.

 

I've just poured my fourth San Miguel. Decided I'd try some pop/rock bass. Picked up the new-ish £1000 Ibanez off the stand, and smacked it right up into the ceiling. I am so glad I put that chunk of foam on there. No damage. The foam refuses to stick properly, but it's just made me very happy indeed.

 

Edited April 1, 2021 by carl0s
fourth, not third.

[carl0s]

On 24/12/2020 at 11:08, Leonard Smalls said:

This is how Mononeon sorted his low ceiling/headstock/head interactions:

 

damn, that's lovely.

[Woodinblack]

3 hours ago, carl0s said:

Picked up the new-ish £1000 Ibanez off the stand, and smacked it right up into the ceiling. I am so glad I put that chunk of foam on there. No damage. The foam refuses to stick properly, but it's just made me very happy indeed.

All of mine have a dent there!

[BassAdder60]

How about 3M Helicopter tape ?

they use it on .. well helicopters !  but also bikes 

numerous colours or clear and easy to stick on curved shapes

Not sure how the glue would effect the headstock though !

Rhino tape is similar tape too 

Edited April 2, 2021 by BassAdder27

[Jus Lukin]

-

Edited March 13, 2022 by Jus Lukin

[Happy Jack]

10 minutes ago, Jus Lukin said:

Ah, you didn't mention that factor before!

I only play a cheapo if I'm getting p*ssed! 😄

Nah ... San Miguel usually comes in titchy 330ml bottles. I'm no drinker, and I know it's 5.0 ABV, but four of them pretty much bounce off me. Rather than the ceiling.

[hiram.k.hackenbacker]

I would get a 1 meter square mat for the floor and spray ‘STAND HERE’ on it in a very bright rattle can paint. Maybe put some bumpers around the edge of it to prevent you from straying outside the square. Given your predilection for not knowing where you are, I might add some hazard tape to the perimeter of the square/bumpers, just to keep you focussed. Then, now this is the clever part, directly above where the 1 meter square mat is, cut a matching hole in the ceiling. You might have to make the ceiling hole slightly oversize to counter the reach of the neck when you remove it, but I honestly can’t see any flaw in this method.

[Jus Lukin]

-

Edited March 13, 2022 by Jus Lukin

[carl0s]

2 hours ago, Happy Jack said:

Nah ... San Miguel usually comes in titchy 330ml bottles. I'm no drinker, and I know it's 5.0 ABV, but four of them pretty much bounce off me. Rather than the ceiling.

It was the pint cans! Followed by a few Duvels. I've got to give it up!

[adamg67]

This is partly what straplocks are for (the ones like Schaller where you can easily take them off). I never do the the bass over the head thing, just release the strap lock at the bridge end of the bass and put it back on it's stand. Putting it back on again just means a flick of the strap over the shoulder and clipping it back on. The headstock never goes above my head level.

Also, because even with that I am a clumsy sod, I just bought a "soft core aged" Sandberg 48, with one of the attractions being I can put the odd ding in it without worrying  

Edited April 2, 2021 by adamg67

[Nail Soup]

2 hours ago, hiram.k.hackenbacker said:

I would get a 1 meter square mat for the floor and spray ‘STAND HERE’ on it in a very bright rattle can paint. Maybe put some bumpers around the edge of it to prevent you from straying outside the square. Given your predilection for not knowing where you are, I might add some hazard tape to the perimeter of the square/bumpers, just to keep you focussed. Then, now this is the clever part, directly above where the 1 meter square mat is, cut a matching hole in the ceiling. You might have to make the ceiling hole slightly oversize to counter the reach of the neck when you remove it, but I honestly can’t see any flaw in this method.

Bit complicated.

Surely a better solution is to make a pit in the floor. This would have its own natural boundary, and no need  to calculate neck reach etc.

 

[hiram.k.hackenbacker]

35 minutes ago, Nail Soup said:

Bit complicated.

Surely a better solution is to make a pit in the floor. This would have its own natural boundary, and no need  to calculate neck reach etc.

You could be on to something there! I assumed, possibly incorrectly, that the room in question was upstairs. If so, the footprint of the pit could make a interesting talking point as it protrudes from the ceiling into the lounge. But for a bungalow or downstairs music room, your solution is genius 👏👏👏👏.

[Doddy]

3 hours ago, hiram.k.hackenbacker said:

Then, now this is the clever part, directly above where the 1 meter square mat is, cut a matching hole in the ceiling. You might have to make the ceiling hole slightly oversize to counter the reach of the neck when you remove it, but I honestly can’t see any flaw in this method.

I tried this. The guy in the upstairs flat went mental.

[Dad3353]

... and I tried Nail's solution. It gave me the opportunity to meet up with, and have an interesting conversation with, the bloke in the flat below. 

[Doctor J]

On 24/12/2020 at 01:17, carl0s said:

We've moved into a house with really low ceilings. Especially my play room.

I got a new bass very recently - an SR1305-TSF.

I usually practice sat down,  but on the couple of occasions when I've tried playing standing up, well apart from the strap ends making annoying squeaking sounds, the other problem is the low ceilings. When I come to put the bass back down, I have been very close to scraping the headstock against the ceiling, and this is a knobbly ceiling too!

Has anybody come up with some kind of headstock-sock, a.k.a a headsock?  I have put some foam on at the moment but it's not stuck too well. I think some sort of thick clear stretchy silicone would be good. Something that puts a 2mm thick cover just over the end, but stretches over and sits tight enough that it moulds to the shape of the headstock - the bit above the tuners only, of course.

 

 

 

Practice while wearing platform boots so your head is much closer to the ceiling. Your own sense of self preservation will make you far more conscious of the proximity of the ceiling and, therefore, less likely to smasha-dee-bassa

[Richard R]

19 hours ago, carl0s said:

Holy crap. It just happened.

 

I've just poured my fourth San Miguel. Decided I'd try some pop/rock bass. Picked up the new-ish £1000 Ibanez off the stand, and smacked it right up into the ceiling. I am so glad I put that chunk of foam on there. No damage. The foam refuses to stick properly, but it's just made me very happy indeed.

 

So you found a solution, and have tested it, AND it worked. That's a result in anyone's book.

[hiram.k.hackenbacker]

I must admit I’ve been victim of low ceiling headstock collision myself. There’s a club in Chelmsford called The Basement with not only low ceilings, but they are a lot lower in certain areas than others. We even had to move our set up around a bit as our guitarist is quite a tall chap and he would have had to play and duck at the same time. At the end of the first set I undid a strap lock and lifted the bass slightly to slide the strap off and ‘boink’. Horrible moments them, you kind of dare not look. Luckily it was a machine head  and no damage. Tell you what, I never did it again in all the times I’ve played there. 

[carl0s]

On 02/04/2021 at 08:25, BassAdder27 said:

How about 3M Helicopter tape ?

they use it on .. well helicopters !  but also bikes 

numerous colours or clear and easy to stick on curved shapes

Not sure how the glue would effect the headstock though !

Rhino tape is similar tape too 

I have some of that stuff. I forget what I bought it for, but it does have specialist uses. As you might have noticed in the prior pictures, I do have a few helicopters - model ones mind you. I think I bought it for a bicycle to stop some rubbing through somewhere or something. Or could have been something totally different.

 

I think I'm going to invent something for this job though. It'll be a small translucent gel cap, about 5 mm thick, and contoury

[Richard R]

6 hours ago, carl0s said:

It'll be a small translucent gel cap, about 5 mm thick, and contoury

There may be more than one market for that sort of thing...

[ubit]

Years of playing in various shapes and sizes of events has honed my disrobing of guitars down to an expert level. You just need to be more specially aware rather than trying to pad out a head stock.